


Relearning Trust

by softmoonlight



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Canon Universe, Home One (Star Wars), M/M, Non-Explicit Sex, Post-Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:48:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27759430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softmoonlight/pseuds/softmoonlight
Summary: Luke deals with his trauma after Bespin, and the two new Jedi as company are a big part of that.
Relationships: Ezra Bridger/Luke Skywalker
Comments: 20
Kudos: 89





	Relearning Trust

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not very happy with this, but it's been sitting in my drafts since like...March...and I just wanted to publish some canonverse content for these two. I love the ship and I like aus fine but there's surprisingly little canonverse for them. Also I'm just really mad that Ezra will be freaking...twenty-eight or something if/when we see him again. It's not fair *continues whining* 
> 
> Fair warning that I will probably heavily edit this.

Only a few days after Bespin, a Togruta woman, a Mandalorian, and an unassuming dark-haired man abruptly stumble onto _Home One_ , their ship quite literally falling to pieces around them, looking like they survived a hell of a firefight just to make it here. The newer recruits, the three scrapper kids, immediately set to fixing it.

Luke backs away from the chaos, for once glad it's not centered on him.

But there's something about this group that keeps him watching, close in the shadows.

It's the same way he's drawn to Rowan, he realizes. That scares him—he's going to have to talk to these people, isn't he, and that's the last thing he feels like doing right now.

The tall Togruta turns and meets his gaze head-on, even hidden away as he is, and Luke feels trapped in her gaze. Her lekku shift, and he catches the familiar flash of a lightsaber hilt on _both_ of her hips.

The man tugs her arm gently, and she turns back to regard him, a soft smile playing on her features as she ruffles his hair. He wrinkles his nose in protest, lightly brushing her off, and then glances back at where she was looking at Luke--and again, unerringly, he is found and locked in a stare with a person who never should've even seen him. He offers Luke a knowing half-smile, then turns away as well in favor of shaking Mothma's hand nervously.

 _Two_ Force-sensitives.

The thought doesn't bring forth the giddy excitement it once would have as recently as a month ago, but he has more than a synth hand as proof that Bespin changed him. He's not that same overeager farmboy anymore. He's fading into shadow as everything else moves on around him, and he's fine with that.

New Jedi.

Let them be the Rebellion’s beacon of hope for a change. Luke is tired of it, and after finding out who Vader is to him—even if he tried to deny it at first—he now feels like an impostor. Somebody else should take on the hero role.

But then it becomes abundantly clear that Ezra Bridger isn’t exactly himself, either. It doesn’t take long for Luke to notice those who arrived with him—Ahsoka and Sabine, the latter had introduced, then left without so much as another word, and the former had briefly stared at him a touch longer before following Sabine into the command meeting—both of them giving Ezra the same stares that Leia and Wedge constantly level at _him_ these days. The one that is overly cautious, as though waiting for an inevitable break. The one that doesn’t mean to be condescending, but _is._

On impulse, Luke sits with him a one day in the dining hall before Sabine can.

There’s a probing brush in the Force before Ezra nods at him briefly, accepting his presence, and returns to his meal. Luke exhales in relief and shovels his rations too. 

He’d never understood companionable silence until now. It’s strange but not unwelcome.

When Sabine enters, she falters at the sight of them, then sits with Leia and Ahsoka instead, after a tense moment of staring at the back of Ezra’s head.

After that, it’s easier for Luke to interact with him, though they don’t say anything at all to each other. Luke will point him in one direction or another with the Force when he knows any of the High Command members are nearby, so that Ezra can make a quick escape. Ezra, who is equally as grounded as Luke and sometimes assigned to managing the hangar, doesn’t log his absence when Luke takes his X-wing out to blow off some steam. Luke shows him his hideaway in the mechanic’s closet that’s almost never used. 

They both take pains to avoid Leia and Ahsoka, both of whom want to speak with them nearly all the time. Ahsoka seems to understand most of the time, because she doesn’t actively seek them out; Leia, on the other hand, is dogged, and keeps using the new discovery of her and Luke’s linked minds to find him and force him to eat, or sleep, or whatever other way she’s decided he’s not taking care of himself this time. Ezra apparently knows her from when the rebellion was much smaller, and which means he knows well enough not to get into her way—something which Luke isn’t sure whether he’s disappointed or relieved about, because the last thing he needs is Leia getting into more shouting matches with people, but he almost wishes he could hide behind Ezra sometimes all the same.

Then Wedge comes in with a batch of—all things—loth cats rescued from a mission, and everything changes. Ezra’s hardened face instantly softens, and he crouches down, reaching out to scratch at one behind the ear. It wags its tail excitedly, trying to climb all over him, and he sinks down onto the floor right there in the middle of the busy hangar. The rest of the animals crowd around him as though magnetized, some trying to crawl into his lap, the others pawing at his back while standing on their hind legs. Everybody else around is completely ignored.

Luke, who thinks the animals are cute but has some years-old wariness left over from Tatooine, where the only animals of that size were vicious womp rats who you only interacted with to shoot, lingers back. That is, until Ezra’s mind tugs at his imploringly in the Force, the thought of _come look, they won’t hurt you_ forming clear among the rest, less in words and more in feeling. His eyes snap over to Luke’s, and Luke stares for a minute—they’re blue, so very blue, darker and deeper than his, and of course he _noticed_ he’s not blind, but there’s this light and liveliness in them right now, of humor and genuine happiness, making him look much younger and much less like he’s carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, and for a moment Luke is paralyzed, because that gaze is fixed on _him._

Despite himself, he breaks into a grin for the first time since Bespin and approaches the pile of fluff. Ezra glances up at him again, briefer this time, then shifts one of the bundles of fur to make room for him—right next to him. 

Luke sits with a strange nervousness he hasn’t really felt before, crossing his legs and bumping his knee against the other man’s despite all his maneuvering to avoid it.

“Animals are great,” Ezra remarks absently, and Luke doesn’t even process he’s said anything for a moment, because Ezra’s voice is so rare, especially around him, since they never need to speak to understand each other.

When he does, he shoots him a bemused look, eyebrows raised.

Ezra laughs, light and melodic. “You don't have to justify yourself to them,” is all he offers in explanation.

And Luke...understands that, far better than he wants to. He forces himself to relax and grab another one of the creatures.

“You're a good guy, Luke. You should let Ahsoka complete your training,” Ezra continues completely, non-sequitir. Luke stiffens, unsure where he's going with this. “She would understand about the," he hesitates, then rushes out, "the Vader thing."

Luke's blood runs cold. Ezra can't... _know_ , can he?

"What Vader thing," he manages to ground out.

Ezra's eyes flicker around, taking in the people all around them, and yes, he definitely, somehow, inexplicably, _knows_ , because he wouldn't be so hesitant to say more otherwise. He stands, grabbing Luke's hand, and practically drags him to his feet. Luke goes along with it, even as dread continues to pool in his stomach with every passing moment.

He finds himself shoved back into the very maintenance closet that _should_ be his safe haven, but is now being encroached on just like everything else.

Ezra, not one for small talk, simply meets Luke's eyes steadily and says, point-blank, "I know who Vader is. I've known since I was sixteen and he almost killed me and Ahsoka saved my life."

Silence. Luke has no idea how to respond to any of that, or where to even begin. Ezra sighs and, after briefly hesitating, reaches up to place a heavy hand on his shoulder, squeezing hard but reassuring.

“Like I said. You should let her help you. She found me after everything, and she helped me put myself back together. I'm sure she'll do the same for her former master's son. She wants to, I know it.”

It's the most words Ezra has said aloud that Luke can remember, and he looks almost nervous about it, like he did something wrong, but Luke can only focus on one part of all of it.

“Her...master?”

Ezra nods.

Once again, Luke’s whole understanding of his father shifts. He hadn't ever considered that he had a student before, but this means there's someone besides Ben and Yoda who knew him before. Someone who knew him as their teacher rather than as their student.

A weight lifts then, and strangely, it has more to do with Ezra and Ahsoka just as much as it does Vader.

Vader he still doesn't really understand, but at least now has a chance to if Ezra's to be believed. But Ezra and Ahsoka are here, and he understands them a lot more. He's just been holding back because he felt like he was lying to them. That Jedi wouldn't want a Sith Lord's child around them once they found out.

But they've known all along, and they are still kind to him.

So Luke nods, and lets himself relax into the touch with a rush of relief so overwhelming it makes him weak in the knees, to the point where he sinks down a little and finds himself at Ezra's eye level. All the while Ezra rubs his thumb into Luke's back in comforting circles.

He doesn't have to _pretend_ anymore.

Things improve marginally after that. Everyone is still so busy that he doesn't have a lot of time to train with Ahsoka, especially with all of the missions High Command has been sending her on--the two younger Jedi still grounded.

He realizes Command had done it intentionally when Mothma finally calls Ezra and Luke in. They can ignore Leia and _avoid_ the Council as much as they like, but they can't get out of a direct summons.

They're sent on a mission to Balmorra, an Imperial-occupied factory world. Ahsoka is conspicuously absent.

It's a test to see if they can handle it.

Luke finds himself wanting to prove he can. He's ready to go back into the galaxy. No more hiding.

A glance over and a light, playful nudge in the Force and he knows Ezra feels the same.

It could definitely be worse, as far as assignments go.

Predictably, the place is crawling with Imperials. They're both wearing hoods to obscure their features--Luke more so, because Ezra's been off the galactic map so long that his bounties are old and the pictures outdated--and Luke is sporting a lightsaber that Artoo took from Grakkus and decided to never mention until today.

It's easy. Too easy. They're inside the place fast, meeting minimal resistance along the way. The alarms don't even go off when Luke stumbles into a sensor in one of the auxiliary corridors. Ezra laughs at him once he realizes it's safe to do so, and Luke scowls.

He seizes Ezra's arm, ducking behind the lockboxes of storage materials to hiss his concerns.

It seems they always wind up in closets together, but that's not important right now.

"Is it just me..."

"Or is it a trap?" Ezra finishes, and frowns. "Yeah."

Luke just stares at him for a moment. He loves being this in sync with someone, and he feels a quiet wonder that the old Jedi must have felt such kinship with each other all the time.

Blaster shots ring out, and they both duck down Force-fast, breathing heavily. Luke chances a look over the edge of the box. They've been herded into this storage wing deliberately.

It's a lot of people to fight through, even armed to the teeth with lightsabers, blasters, and Force-senses. They're in a bad spot, and over a routine op no less.

Luke can _see_ Yoda's tutting at him about distractions, and snorts, suddenly missing his old master. If they survive this, he's finally going to go see him again.

If they die, though...

Luke knows afterward that his priorities were probably messed up, but in the moment, he doesn’t think before he does it; in fact, he doesn’t remember forming the thought at all. He lunges forward and pulls Ezra flush against him and pressed their lips together, kissing him with unrefined, desperate need, the soft sensation drowning out the chaos around them. Ezra freezes and for a moment Luke wonders if he misjudged everything about the other man terribly, but then Ezra relaxes and responds just as urgently, lips parting slightly and one callused, hand reaching up to cup his jaw with a careful gingerness that belies the fact that they’re being shot at right now. Luke moans softly, trying not to cry with relief that what he’s been feeling is returned.

The moment seems to stretch into a thousand. Like they have all the time in the world.

The troopers around them, and they both go still when a blaster bolt whizzes by Luke’s ear, so close that he can smell the carbon scoring when it hits one of the lockboxes instead. Luke breaks the kiss first, breathing heavily, but surges forward slightly to press their foreheads together, eyes still shut. The Force isn’t singing danger anymore, and he’s tired enough that he affords himself this.

He reaches out in the Force, grounding himself with the sound of their mixed breathing, and sends the nearest wave of stormtroopers back with a single push. There are shouts as they topple into each other and scramble, blasts firing at all angles, but luckily pointed away from them.

“What was that for and why _now_ , you crazy son of--” Ezra ducks the blaster shots again, resting his face in Luke's shoulder. He's trying to sound annoyed, but he's actually stifling more laughter at how incredibly stupid that stunt was, softening his words.

“Just in case we die," Luke says, smiling sheepishly down at him. Ezra pulls back to halfheartedly glare, before deciding on a simple, "We're not dying today. Not by fucking bucketheads" and finally ignites his blade--brilliant green, which take's Luke's breath away--and launching himself over the box. Luke scrambles after him, wanting to help but also not wanting to be shown up.

His own temporary lightsaber flickers to life, a brilliant yellow, its crystal protesting the pain of its murdered owner. Luke winces--this was why he never wanted to use someone else's lightsaber, and was fine leaving all of those behind on Nar Shaddaa--and spares a moment to soothe the kyber, one of the few things Ahsoka _did_ actually have time to teach him. The whimpering subsides a little, and he holds it gingerly before following after Ezra down the hall.

Later, they don’t exchange looks during debrief at all. Leia glances between them anyway, her confusion shifting to realization in the Force. She narrows her eyes, as if about to admonish them, but Luke pushes her away before she can do so.

They don’t talk about it, but by mutual understanding they wind up in Ezra’s room. Luke barely has time to blink before he’s backed against the door with Ezra mouthing at his neck, one leg jammed between both of Luke’s. Not that he’s complaining.

They peel each other’s clothes off without much grace; they fall into bed with even less grace.

And Luke feels...happy. Or at least, something like the start of it.

He wakes to his Sith Lord father successfully crashing into his mind, distinctly furious but in a strange way that Luke doesn't recognize from a simple fight. It feels more like...possessiveness and disgust.

 _Luke. What is the meaning of this?_ There’s a mental image of the two of them from outside facility, the footage grainy but clear enough that amongst the holo’s blues, he can see the kiss, a second chaste peck they'd shared after escaping and blowing up the building, clearly enough. Obviously the Empire had no shortage of security cameras on such an industrialized world.

Luke’s irritation flares, righteous and childish. This can't seriously be happening to him. Of all the reasons Vader should succeed in invading his mind, something as trivial as this should be the last of them.

Vader has absolutely no right to think he has some sort of say in who Luke goes to bed with.

For the first time since Bespin, he opens the bond, ever so slightly, just to respond, _Exactly what it looks like_. He dares to accentuate it with a flash of where he is right now: tangled up in the sheets with the man in question, pushed closely together because the single-person bunk is so small, both of them only half-dressed, Ezra clinging to him like a gangly lothcat, his face adorably, peacefully slack in sleep, his soft puffs of breath on Luke’s neck.

He can feel Vader’s surprise that he responded at all, which is why, even as pained as he immediately feels connecting to his father’s mind, there isn’t a wave of icy rage sent back right away. By the time Vader _does_ gather himself enough to respond, signaled to him with a decisively _irate_ realization that Luke has now obviously also _slept with_ Ezra, Luke has already withdrawn and shuttered the connection as fiercely as he can. Vader’s iron will slams uselessly against his shields, and Luke smiles a little in petty satisfaction that his father is undoubtedly _extremely_ frustrated right now—and if he’s not mistaken, wonderfully _embarrassed_ too.

He shifts and tightens his grip around Ezra, snuggling down burying his face halfway between the single pillow they’re currently sharing and Ezra’s shirt. 

It’s warm here, warm in a way he hasn’t been for months. Ezra’s so deeply asleep he doesn’t even move.

It’s the first time Luke slept through the night completely, he realizes. Judging from how unconscious Ezra is, the same could be said for him.

**Author's Note:**

> -The scrapper kids mentioned at the very beginning are the Freemaker siblings from LEGO sw. Rowan, the youngest boy, is Force-sensitive.
> 
> -Ezra is canonically shorter than Luke (at least, as we last saw him he was) and this is very important to me
> 
> -Ezra probably didn't actually put together that Anakin and Vader are the same, because in that same scene Vader "confesses" to killing Anakin. For the sake of this story, however, he either _did_ figure it out and/or talked it out with Ahsoka when they met up again
> 
> -SW 2020 comics spoilers: Luke's yellow lightsaber is not the same backstory as the comics here (I basically butchered the 2015 run for this sake, hence the Grakkus mention) but I chose yellow because Luke does look good with one and wanted to pay homage to that.


End file.
